Tickets now on sale for An Evening With Annette Bening to benefit the Promise

July 27, 2018

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San Diego Community College District

Tickets are now on sale for a special benefit featuring San Diego Mesa College alumna
Annette Bening. “An Evening with Annette Bening, to Benefit the San Diego Promise”
will be held at the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park at 6:30 p.m. on
Thursday, September 20. The event comes as the San Diego Community College District
is dramatically expanding the number of students who will benefit from the San Diego
Promise, which waves enrollment fees and provides other support for eligible students.

Bening, a four-time Academy Award nominee, is best known for her starring roles in
films such as “Being Julia,” “The American President,” and “American Beauty.” A San
Diego native, Bening, says her time as a drama student at Mesa College helped prepare
her for a highly successful acting career.

SDCCD Chancellor Constance M. Carroll says the district is thrilled to have Bening,
a San Diego Promise donor, headline its September 20 gala. Chancellor Carroll says
the event is part of an expanded public-private investment in the San Diego Promise,
which will now fund the first two years of enrollment fees for all full-time students
who are recent high school graduates.

“The San Diego Community College District is making a commitment to thousands of first-time
students to fund two years of college if they commit to taking a full load and completing
their education in two years,” Chancellor Carroll said. “To deliver on this promise
the district is asking the community’s support.”

Chancellor Carroll says that for 2018-19, the San Diego Community College District
is expected to get an influx of state funding, which will fund the first year of the
program for new students. Philanthropic support, however, is needed to fund enrollment
fees and book grants for each student’s second year.

Launched as a pilot program in 2016 with 186 students, the San Diego Promise enrolled
more than 700 students at San Diego City, Mesa, and Miramar colleges this past year.
During the upcoming 2018-19 academic year, the SDCCD expects to add several thousand
new full-time students to the program, which is intended to ensure that no deserving
local students are denied the opportunity to earn a college education due to lack
of resources.

Presenting sponsors of the event include Roger Frey and Seidler Equity Partners. For
sponsorship and ticket information, visit: www.sdccd.edu/promise/gala